Two former Parramatta Eels players are accused of harbouring semi-automatic weapons and possessing more than half-a-million dollars in cash after dramatic arrests in Sydney's Centennial Park yesterday.

Fears for WA island mine seawall integrity

Water is being pumped out of a disused iron ore mine on a West Australian island after pit walls slumped, sparking fears it could collapse and contaminate the ocean on the other side.

BHP began mining at Cockatoo Island off the Kimberley coast in 1950 and the project was closed decades later when the ore body had been mined to sea level.

HWE Mining and Portman Mining later reopened the mine and constructed a sea wall to prevent tidal water from flowing into the pit, allowing mining to continue below sea level.

The mine was closed again after the most recent owners, Pluton Resources, became insolvent.

The island's traditional owners, the Dambimangari, say they are deeply worried that flooding at the mine will result in the sea wall collapsing completely, covering surrounding coral reefs with sediment and contaminating a humpback whale migration route.

Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Peter McCumstie said the community was keen to see action to make the area safe, including possibly using the WA Mining Rehabilitation Fund.

The Department of Mines and Petroleum says Pluton's receivers Pitcher Partners are maintaining the mine site.